Short shifter- yes; Kartboy or MODE with front and rear stay bushings ~$170
BOV- Absolutely Positively no BOV that vents to atmosphere. You can get by with a hybrid at best. COBB XLE Hybrid BPV- $295
Intake- not really necessary unless you want turbo sound (like a BOV); Perrin or AEM if you do ~ $160-200
Exhaust- Any full TURBO back exhaust (downpipe, catback); I'm going to say COBB or Perrin but there's a ton ~ $900-1400.

My Addition
COBB AccessPort/OpenSource Tune (XPT)- Definitely positively yes! Will give you a ton more power and make the MS3 feel like a heap ~ $300-$595. If you go to Perrin they will give you a custom map for free that will account for the intake. OTS COBB maps say no to an intake.

Well maybe not (depends what you mean by heavily modified) but still, with those mods you'll be pretty close to 280 or so WHP, add an intercooler and one or two more things and 300 no problem. You can look at my mods list and see that I've done a lot, but I don't really consider my car anything good until I get a tune. I'm not getting an AccessPort, but engine management is extremely important to the WRX. I don't consider anything done to a car as adding power until a tune is performed.

I agree with what rtrs said about the bov, but i have a few more suggestions.

I have the perrin shifter adapter with a kartboy knob and I really love it. Thats a cheaper alternative that doesn't actually shorten the height of the shifter itself.

For the exhaust I would look in to Invidia. Pretty good pieces for a fair price.

And out of curiosity, what did you do to your mazda? I sold mine to get my subura (great move in hindsight), but it was painful at the time because I had a built short block with 15 lbs of boost. Getting any traction was, um, difficult. Haha

If you are really just looking for sound with the intake then just get a Perrin or K&N drop in filter. It was a noticable change in tone for my 2010 WRX.

As far as the BOV. Just do a few searches. You'll see that you are just wasting your money in that department. You can hear the stock BOV with a few modifications. I can hear mine with just the Perrin drop in filter and no other modifications.

As far as exhaust goes. If you want gains then you'll want to go turbo back exhaust (axle back is just going to give you a different tone). A downpipe is always a great first modification for a WRX. The stock downpipe is very restrictive. Cobb, Perrin, Invidia are all very reputable DP's. Exhaust you have a bunch of options (Cobb, Perrin, SPT, TurboXS, etc). This is where your ear will do the decision making...depends if you want quiet/loud.

Engine management. This is the most important piece. Also, a tuner. Cobb Accessport has any and everything you need. There are mulitple routes you can go with EM. It's up to your wallet and what you plan on doing longterm. If you can't say no to the itch...and you continuously modify your WRX. Then, do it right the first time and get an Accessport.

Your WRX responds very well to simple turbo back exhaust modifications. As far as what else to do. I could go on and on. It all depends what your goals are with the car. Goodluck.

i agree with everything you said except get the AP if you plan on modifying a lot. i do modify a lot and therefore need tuned a lot. the first time i needed tuned it was $350. then i went catless for another $50, now im stage 3 and its gonna run $250. ive only spent $650 on tuning and the car is just plan fast!! if i would have bought the AP first then i would have had to spend $700 (at the time) plus the another $650 for the tuning!

The AP is only for if you dont modify a lot and just want to go stage 2 with a OTS map and be happy with that. anything else your monies going to a tuner.

i have a boost gauge, OBDII reader and clearer, getting a Tactix cable and maybe a wideband O2 gauge. now that will put me at $700 but at least i didnt have to spend all that money at one time. and the wideband is 1000 times better than the AP A/F piggy back gauge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10046252

Engine management. This is the most important piece. Also, a tuner. Cobb Accessport has any and everything you need. There are mulitple routes you can go with EM. It's up to your wallet and what you plan on doing longterm. If you can't say no to the itch...and you continuously modify your WRX. Then, do it right the first time and get an Accessport.

You can protune with either a AP or O/S. Its just what you want, how you want to do it, and how much you can afford. Why is this always a pissing match? You can do a few DIY mods with a AP and then get a protune or simply just tune it and leave it. If your not going wild. O/S you have to learn what your doing and do it at your own discretion until you protune it.